New Mexico has been giving marriage certificates to same-sex couples since 2013, after a state Supreme Court decision said that it was unconstitutional to deny marriage certificates to same-sex couples.

Same-sex marriage ceremony where 12 couples were married in Albuquerque in 2013. Photo Credit: Matthew Reichbach

A federal judge ruled Kim Davis in contempt of court for failing to give such certificates despite numerous court rulings that said government workers cannot deny certificates to same-sex couples. Supporters of the clerk say her religion, she is Christian, means she should not have to give marriage certificates to same-sex couples.

Resign instead of allow same-sex couples to marry

In New Mexico, one county clerk also opposed marriage for same-sex couples. But unlike Davis, Donna Carpenter, the county clerk in Roosevelt County, decided to resign rather than be unable to perform a part of her job and violate the law for her religious beliefs. Deputy clerk Janet Collins also resigned.

“My opinion does not matter, my opinion is irrelevant,” said Searl about the state’s same-sex marriage ruling and any other laws according to the Portales News-Tribune. “I was appointed to do a job and I’m going to do that job to the best of my ability.”

“I don’t have a problem with who wants to get married,” said Eddy County Magistrate Judge Henry Castaneda. “But we don’t have to compromise our beliefs.”

Judges are not required to perform marriages, though county clerks must give out marriage certificates in New Mexico.

A brief history of same-sex marriage in NM

In all, New Mexico legalized same-sex marriage in an odd way, with the practice spreading from county to county for days until finally the Supreme Court decided to step in. It started in Doña Ana County, where clerk Lynn Ellins began issuing marriage certificates to same-sex couples on August 21, 2013.

This was the last county until the Supreme Court ruled on December 19, 2013 that the state constitution did not allow discrimination against same-sex couples who wished to be married.

Any half-hearted efforts to overturn the decision by a constitutional amendment would have been rendered moot when the United States Supreme Court decided this summer that same-sex marriage was legal nationwide.

State Rep. Bobby Gonzales shook his head from side to side after listening to all the suggestions about how to meet a judge's order to provide more resources to New Mexico children who, in the court's view, are not receiving a good public education. "About 15 different ideas," the Democrat from Taos said following a hearing on the topic last week in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich says a former Donald Trump campaign chairman should testify in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee after reports of the former campaign official’s ties to Russia. Heinrich, a member of the committee, said that Paul Manafort must testify “and give the American people the answers they deserve.”
Heinrich cited an Associated Press report that Manafort “secretly worked for a Russian billionaire to advance the interests of Russian President Vladimir Putin a decade ago and proposed an ambitious political strategy to undermine anti-Russian opposition across former Soviet republics.”
Manafort worked for Oleg Deripaska, who is a close ally of Putin, for a reported $10 million a year contract.

The tony neighborhoods tucked into the juniper-dotted grasslands on the east side of the Sandia Mountains represent yet another battleground in New Mexico’s water wars, one in which the state's top water official has abandoned one side for the other. Last week, testimony ended in a trial over whether a private company can pump more water—114 million gallons more each year—from the Sandia Basin.

State Rep. Bobby Gonzales shook his head from side to side after listening to all the suggestions about how to meet a judge's order to provide more resources to New Mexico children who, in the court's view, are not receiving a good public education.

Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.
Matthew has appeared as a panelist for the Society of Professional Journalists’ New Mexico Chapter’s panel on covering New Mexico politics and the legislature.
A native New Mexican from Rio Rancho, Matthew’s family has been in New Mexico since the 1600s.